OpenClaw's owner-only gateway tool access checks were incomplete in specific authenticated DM flows
Key facts
- Attack vector
- —
- Privileges required
- —
- User interaction
- —
- Attack complexity
- —
- Impact type
- Privilege escalation, Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- —
- Fix status
- Fixed
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from GitHub. Impact type from CWE-269 and CWE-863.
Summary
## Summary In authenticated non-owner DM sessions, a narrow tool-invocation path could reach broader-than-intended owner-only gateway actions. ## Impact This requires an authenticated non-owner sender in a DM session and a specific tool invocation path. No unauthenticated access is involved, and this does not provide direct code execution by itself. ## Root Cause - Some gateway call paths were still using broader default scopes instead of method-level least-privilege scopes. - Owner-only enforcement depended on tool-name checks and was not consistently metadata-driven across all call paths. ## Affected Packages / Versions - Package: `openclaw` (npm) - Affected: `<= 2026.2.17` (latest published npm version as of February 19, 2026) - Patched: `2026.2.19` ## Remediation - Refactored gateway method scope mapping to a data-driven table and added guard tests to ensure all exposed core gateway methods stay classified. - Centralized owner-only enforcement in tool policy wrappers and tool metadata. - Marked owner-only tools explicitly (`cron`, `gateway`, `whatsapp_login`) and removed duplicated per-tool owner checks. - Refactored gateway call path internals into smaller helpers while preserving behavior and coverage. ## Fix Commit(s) - `a40c10d3e24568b1e2947c104484be74bf66b8d2` - `2777d8ad91ef1e8a7c6f5b4b18f8507be7d02914` - `3d7ad1cfca4daaa84cd553e843e0e08fa6201349` OpenClaw thanks @Adam55A-code for reporting.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | openclaw (npm) | before 2026.2.19 | 2026.2.19 | Patch available | GHSA-2hm8-rqrm-xfjq |
- openclaw (npm) Vendor— Affected before 2026.2.19 Fixed in 2026.2.19 Patch available GHSA-2hm8-rqrm-xfjq
Remediation
- Fix · GHSA-2hm8-rqrm-xfjq openclaw (npm) Fixed in 2026.2.19 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-03 Threatist record created from GHSA-2hm8-rqrm-xfjq
References
Other 5
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-2hm8-rqrm-xfjq
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/2777d8ad91ef1e8a7c6f5b4b18f8507be7d02914
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/3d7ad1cfca4daaa84cd553e843e0e08fa6201349
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/a40c10d3e24568b1e2947c104484be74bf66b8d2
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences